He's just making sure its covered, as sometimes people change plans and they could be upgrading from a lower plan.
The level of hospital cover in question may not be covered for 2 years.
If he goes ahead with the procedure and the health insurer doesn't pay up, he's depending on the patient to pay the bill.
He wouldn't know the patients health insurance history but he's avoiding a potential problem before it arises.
He probably says it to everyone.
Without knowing the hospital in question, or the procedure involved its hard to determine.
For example, if you are on a VHI plan with 80% orthopaedic cover and you switch to Laya with full cover.
You could be suffering on and off for a while before finally going for a hip replacement in a private hospital which might charge for
the 20% shortfall. This shortfall is 3000 approx. You might be with Laya for 1 year, with another year waiting to serve before full cover
would apply for a hip replacement. It would be classed as a pre-existing condition and a shortfall would apply.
I would say the consultant is preventing a problem by making sure a procedure is covered before going ahead.
He is putting the onus on the patient to confirm cover so he is sure there won't be a problem with payment down the road.
Snowyb